The program is called PRISM, was established in 2007 and, with the cooperation of the Internet giants, it lets the government collect massive amounts of materials, the documents say.

But the Internet giants contacted by us, the Post and the Guardian deny knowledge of PRISM.

A Google spokesperson told both publications:

"We disclose user data to government in accordance with the law, and we review all such requests carefully. From time to time, people allege that we have created a government 'back door' into our systems, but Google does not have a back door for the government to access private user data."

On the other hand, since 2009, Google has been warning the public about requests it gets to "hand over" data to the government. That's when it first launched its Government "Transparency Report."

The report also vaguely lists requests it gets in the form of "National Security Letters," meaning investigations for national security purposes.

There's no way an average person can tell if these requests are part of the so-called "PRISM" program or not. But clearly the government can access your data stored on the Internet when it feels the need.